What does your grandmother have to do with earmarks?

Will President Bush sign an Executive Order directing federal departments and agencies to ignore earmarks not explicitly included in the text of that massive omnibus spending bill? We hear Bush is getting lots of telephone calls from Members of Congress from both parties encouraging him not to do it.

One of the most frequently voiced arguments in those calls goes something like this: “Sure, there is a bad apple here and there in the earmarks but just look at all the good things we do with the rest of them.” It’s an appealing argument calculated to make the hearer feel guilty about preventing the good-hearted congressman from using tax dollars to buy some new equipment for a hospital or install a new stoplight at a busy intersection?

It’s an appealing argument and it’s a crock! Think about it: Just because Congressman Claghorn twice helps your grandmother cross a busy street during rush hour, it doesn’t give him permission to then go rob her bank.